Agents of Mayhem – Preview

Agents of Mayhem has a new trailer today showing off some of what you can expect when it releases this summer. Recently we were invited to sit down with the game and go through a bit of the world and just generally see how the development is progressing. These are the same people that have created the Saints Row franchise so if you are a Saints Row fan then you should definitely enjoy this game. While it isn’t the Saints Row 5 game that we are all waiting for it is set in the same universe with Ultor playing a big part in the game as well as there being a returning character from the Saints Row games. In the world of Agents of Mayhem it isn’t good vs. bad. There are no good guys here. Instead it is basically bad vs. evil where you are a part of a group that has done some bad things but you are trying to stop another group that is downright evil. Agents of Mayhem takes place in Seoul, South Korea and is an open world, single player game.

During our time with the game we were able to play a few different missions that are set during different parts of the game. For that reason we can’t really comment on the story because the missions we played were all over the place. With that said though it is immediately apparently that the standard Volition/Deep Silver humor is in full effect here. There are many curse words and the overall sense of humor is very much adult oriented. Agents of Mayhem also has a sense of style about it that is completely over the top and you will do some of the most insane, over the top things you can think of.

Agents of Mayhem controls pretty much the same way as the Saints Row titles. It might take you a minute or two to get it done but it is a quick process and the tutorial mission that we played helped expedite the process as well. During the game (or at least during the sections we played) you will always have three people with you but only one on the screen. You can switch out your characters on the fly though depending on the situation. There are some instances where you will need a heavy and someone who can really pack a punch, while there will be other times where you need someone a bit more nimble and agile or maybe someone who can pick off enemies from a distance. The choice is yours before you start the missions as you are allowed to choose and edit your squad before you begin. You are not able to create your own character in Agents of Mayhem, however, you can edit and customize them a bit. There are 12 characters in all and each one has their different traits, skill sets and humor so you will probably want to experiment with different combinations to see what works best for you. Some of these characters include a reality TV star/pretty boy Hollywood type, a sky pirate, an internationally famous thief and more.

Agents of Mayhem is an open world game and when you are in that open world you can call your vehicle to you at any point and if you are standing in a special spot when your car pulls up you will enter the car in a special way. The GPS system in the game seems to work pretty well as I always knew where I needed to go and how to get there. The driving seemed to handle pretty well although I didn’t do it nearly enough to really get a good handle on it. Outside of main missions there are a number of things to do as well such as taking an enemy base or participating in a number of other activities. To do that you might need to hack into their system (done by successfully completely a quick mini-game) and you have to do that at certain times in the main missions as well. We did get to participate in one boss fight that was pretty challenging but once we figured out what was going on and what needed to be done there wasn’t too much of an issue. Part of the fight was you trying to use the environment against your enemy and once you successfully did that you could close in to inflict more damage until he raised his shields again and then you would do this until he was essentially defeated. The gunplay in the game seemed to be well done and some of the secondary items you have can definitely help tip the scales in your favor. One of my favorites (briefly seen in the trailer below) is when you can shoot an enemy with an item and it causes that enemy to transport and appear right in front of you so that you can quickly lay the smackdown on him. It is completely crazy and over the top and a tremendous amount of fun.

The brief amount of time we got to spend with Agents of Mayhem showed a lot of potential. After revealing this game back in 2016 I feel like a lot of people forgot about it simply because Volition and Deep Silver went dark on it and didn’t bring it up again until there was something to showcase. It is generally a good thing when studios can do that so the hype doesn’t get overblown like we have seen in the past on some other titles. The game’s release date of August 15 is also a perfect summer release date where people can pick it up and enjoy Agents of Mayhem before a lot of other games hit the market. This could be a sleeper hit for some people in a year where we have already had some absolutely amazing games hit the marketplace. I assume we will hear more about Agents of Mayhem at E3 so definitely keep this game on your radar.